How safe is fishing Solo?

[Scalem]

Hi All

Owning a boat has it's advantages I know, especially when you get that sudden inspiration to have a fish, so within an hour of deciding, you have hitched the boat on to the car and you are on your way. The problem with making such quick decisions (usually brought on by either an arguement with the missus or a cow of a day at work, or similar ) it is a little absurd to expect any of your deckies to suddenly drop what they are doing, and come along with you, within an hour of being asked. My brother for one, has made it known that a little bit of notice is polite.

So after that said, and because fishing is therapeutic in times such as what I described above, how many of you go solo and how often?

The last time I did a trip on my own, this old guy, who was spectating back at the Manly ramp, asked me where did you go fishing? I said Mud island. His reply was " you're joking, did you go all the way to mud island and back by yourself?" Yes, I replied, "I am always very careful"
"Not me" came the reply, "Too many things can go wrong.."

So the questions are....

How many fisho's use fishing for therapy like I described??.....
If you go by yourself, what safety measures do you take?? I think there would be a destinction between bay/estuary and offshore, but I am mainly talking about the bay, which is most of my fishing...
How many of you think it is unsafe to go by yourself??

I have read some horror stories on some threads on Ausfish, but would that stop you from doing solo trips in the future?

Would be interested to hear your comments. Charleville, I know you prefer night time, and calling your wife on mobile once you have anchored and settled in works for you, but in all the solo night trips, did you feel a little unsafe once or twice?

Scalem

[Murks]

Scalem,
I for one have NEVER been fishing in a boat by myself

My reasons are three fold..

1: I enjoy the company of others and find it really enjoyable to sit back have a chat when things are quiet and share the experience when things are good.
2: The safety aspect of two people on board is i guess unquestionable for many reasons but as we are all getting older we are not as invincible as we once were...by the way I am only 42....
3: Probably the most valid reason for me is that I rekon getting my boat OUT would be an absolute pain in the @#$% especially if it got a bit windy.....this limits my fishing because like you said ..most deckies will need some notice..
I guess we all need to fish with each other and deckie for boat owners as they all understand and appreciate thatthe short notice is sometimes all your gunna get.......
Anyway, that my response to a good topic...
Allthe best...look forward to meeting you one day...
Murks...

[Seaduction]

Scalem,

I enjoy and sometimes prefer to go on my own. I normally launch from Wello and will often go to Mud
etc. My wife has said to me "what would you do if the boat tipped over by your self" to which I normally reply "not much more than if your were swimming next to me".

My point is that I feel quite comfortable going on my own as I know I have all the necessary safety equipment radio's etc. I find the most difficult thing going solo is launching as my boat is 5.25m and is a little hard to keep still while parking the car, especially when there is a breeze blowing.

One thing I will always ensure I do is to tell someone where I'm going and how long I'm ging for.

[robersl]

im a big fella and i like to take someone with me as balast and to pull the anchor ,sorry chubby ,sunny,blufish just kidding its always handy to have someone to chat to and keep lookout while motoring and hold the boat at the ramp

shane

[finding_time]

Scalem

I regularly fish solo and i really enjoy it ,is it dangerous well i guess that's all a matter of perspective. I guess compared to fishing with company it's a little more dangerous ,how much though is debatable and compared to my other hobby it's not dangerous at all. I do take precautions eg. attach the kill lanyard to my belt and wear a life jacket but that's about all other than logging on and telling my better half quite accurately where i'm going but i do this even when going in company.

There are many reasons i fish solo,sometimes i cant get a deckie at late notice, sometimes i want to do alot of searching for this and that and dont want to bore a deckie and mostly i had a shite week dealing with people and just want a bit of quite time. i have no problem with anyone boating solo if they want to but have come across people that take offense at my wish to do so even though they no nothing about me or my motives each to his own i say.

Ian

Ps. i've got a drive on trailer so whether i've got help or on my own makes little differance to launching+ retrieving( IT's nice to have someone back the trailer down though )

[Scalem]

Good replies so far

Thanks Murks - Yes I will keep an ear out for you....Ditto that. I just thought of another topic... How many of us use the ausfish user name on marine radio? ie: If I logged in to Brisbane coastguard, as I normally do, I use "Scalem" as my call name. Do you use "Murks" or another name? I just don't know who to listen out for on 27mhz most of the time. What the heck, I'll post this too.

Seaduction, that reply "not much more than if your were swimming next to me " had me in stiches! Good on ya! I guess if you were unconscious with your head in the water, it might be a different story. Your wife might be able to give you mouth to mouth and save your life in doing so??

Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy going solo, but this ol' guy said it with such conviction he has me thinking.... what if????

Scalem

[dfox]

I think that anyone fishing offshore shouldnt go alone if its possiable, but if you do, log on with the coast guard and update with them on arrival at your fishing spot. Ive worked commercial mackeral fishing offshore and most of the time i went solo, so we set up a vhf radio at home to keep in touch for safety.
Closer to shore and sheltered waters is a different story, although accidents can and do happen ive done heaps of fishing and crabbing alone. If you dont feel safe dont do it, but once you gain confidence in the capabilites of your boat and equipment, and all aspects of using it including launching and retrieving it all becomes second nature.
Just sit down the ramp one morning and watch all the old hands go out alone to there secret spots, as well as all the pro's fishing alone. They all have a system, the boats are set up in a way that they can operate it by themselves.
Being alone means you have to be a bit more careful on the water, fall overboard in a current and your in trouble, but a bit of common sense and youll be fine...foxy

[Seaduction]

Seaduction, that reply "not much more than if your were swimming next to me " had me in stiches! Good on ya! I guess if you were unconscious with your head in the water, it might be a different story. Your wife might be able to give you mouth to mouth and save your life in doing so??

.

I had never really thought of that. Better make sure future deckies are good looking. .

Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy going solo, but this ol' guy said it with such conviction he has me thinking.... what if????

I guess the "what if" can be said about alot of things in life. Without knowing any "real" statistics I'm sure that you would probably have as much, if not more of a chance of something happening driving to work?

[longtail]

Hi guys ,

Good topic Scalem # #me , i usually prefer to fish alone that way i can go where i want and not have to think about someone else getting a feed. also if it's just me in the boat then i don't have to worry about a deckies safety.

most times i head out i usually catch up with other ausfishers out there , a few guys i regulary fish with ( but not in the same boat) are crestcutter(darryl) , brejen(brett) , gawby(graeme) and skippa(tony). our trips are normally organised via pm's and i believe it is much safer to have 4 or 5 boats out than only 1.

when heading out though , whether on your own or not , a good habit to get in is logging on with VMR or coastguard. i also keep in contact with my wife via SMS messages.

so to answer the original question , fishing solo can be just as safe as having a deckie IMHO.


cheers
Jason.

[shaman]

Good thread Scalem as I'm sure anyone who goes solo has had it cross their minds. I love to go out in my tinnie solo (Broadwater) and am lucky to live on the water and don't have trailer/ramp dramas. I used to live at Redland Bay and i'd shoot over to Peel or even Amity on my own and only once did I have a drama, got caught in a big blow just north of Myora, I put on my lifejacket and whistled that brave tune but I wasn't scared of being alone in fact I was glad I wasn't endangering anybody else at the time.
That said I was pretty bloody happy when the bow scraped the ramp and laughed that nervous crazyman laugh.
I really think it's a personal choice thing and it can feel exhilerating and liberating heading into a blow/rainstorm on your own with the sea..................just don't be too stupid, rescues cost lives and money....
......................Billy

[onerabbit]

Hi all,

I used to fish solo, ( before ida & I started fishing togeather )on a comp day or when I couldn't get a deckie.

I usually only fish deep, so it may be different from what you guys do .

2 different occasions made me a bit shy of going out by myself, one where I had snagged a set of trap bubbles under my motor, I finished up hanging on to my transom , trying to get the bubbles & 20 litre container away from my motor (very scarey). Not sure if a deckie could have helped.

The other, when I was out by myself in a big sea, got knocked off my feet by a big swell, the rail in front of the motor hit the back of my knees & I smacked my head on the back of the transom, with the motor above me. If it had knocked me out I would have slipped in & been gone.

Yeah & its really hard to launch & retrieve by myself.

Muzz

[onerabbit]

Hi all,

I used to fish solo, ( before ida & I started fishing togeather )on a comp day or when I couldn't get a deckie.

I usually only fish deep, so it may be different from what you guys do .

2 different occasions made me a bit shy of going out by myself, one where I had snagged a set of trap bubbles under my motor, I finished up hanging on to my transom , trying to get the bubbles & 20 litre container away from my motor (very scarey). Not sure if a deckie could have helped.

The other, when I was out by myself in a big sea, got knocked off my feet by a big swell, the rail in front of the motor hit the back of my knees & I smacked my head on the back of the transom, with the motor above me. If it had knocked me out I would have slipped in & been gone.

Yeah & its really hard to launch & retrieve by myself.

Muzz

[onerabbit]

ooooops, sorry

[snappa]

solo fishing means NOT SITTING ON THE SIDE OF THE BOAT..

not at tempest .....


u dont realise how a boat can get so far away in such short time..
then your face with .. get it all your might and hope like crazy u make it ....




otherwise "NO WORRIES".......



and





u get to eat all the"jam rolls" ....

[sunny]

I've done it once or twice and I can relate to the idea of being alone for some quiet time, but I'm totally over trying to get the boat on the trailer in a wind if I'm solo. Doing that at the boat club with a bunch of yatchies passing comments from the pub deck is not a good way to end the day.

But that said, some things are just better with a little company. No one would believe you if you spend an hour fighting that big monster, only to drop it at the side of the boat, if you don't have a witness. Of course you have to choose the right company